Position 01
Choose deliberately
Every Project Pitch includes an AI Production Note that explains where AI-assisted production will be used or deliberately not used, and why that choice fits the Player Promise.
How We Ship
AI is not the line. Shipping is.
AI literacy is required; AI use is not. We use or reject tools deliberately, require human ownership, and publish a game only when it proves that it meets the standard.
The standard
Production begins with a promise and ends with proof.
Clowdr is a craft-first AI game-production community. Tool choice stays deliberate, and every Contributor remains accountable for owned, integrated, and verified work. A Prototype can answer a question, but it is never the approved outcome. Completed tickets do not make a game publishable; evidence does.
See the standard tested in the LogbookThe AI position
Choose tools deliberately. Keep ownership human.
AI-assisted work, limited AI use, and deliberately non-AI work all meet the same publishing standard.
Position 02
Human ownership is the gate
A human must be able to explain and revise the work, establish its fit and provenance, integrate it, verify it in context, and hand it off cleanly. Otherwise it is Unowned Output.
Position 03
Name the system correctly
AI-Assisted Production describes tools or agents used while making the game. Game AI describes runtime systems inside it. Neither label makes a game publishable.
The production path
A Project earns the right to scale.
The same Player Promise guides approval, the Quality Baseline, and Publication Review. Each gate keeps volume from masquerading as progress.
- Stage 01
Project Pitch
Clowdr approves a Player Promise, Intended Release, locked Feature Scope, Vertical Slice Plan, and AI Production Note. Optional Prototype Evidence can support the pitch but cannot become the Project.
- Stage 02
Slice Phase
Approval opens only the Slice Phase. Contributors may claim only the work needed to build, integrate, and evaluate the Vertical Slice.
- Stage 03
Quality Baseline
Clowdr approves the Vertical Slice as the binding Quality Baseline for production coherence and polish. Only then does the wider Production backlog open.
- Stage 04
Production
The remaining Feature Scope becomes claimable. Release Blockers may create required work to make that scope publishable, but they cannot add new player-facing features.
- Stage 05
Done Project
All approved tickets and Release Blockers are complete, and the integrated game meets the publishing standard. An empty board alone is not Done.
- Stage 06
Release Candidate
The Project Lead submits the integrated build, publication materials, and Final AI Production Note. The Lead does not declare the game released.
- Stage 07
Publication Review
Clowdr evaluates the Player Promise, approved Feature Scope, Quality Baseline, and Five Proofs of Release, then decides publication under the Clowdr brand.
Five Proofs of Release
Completed tickets are not publication evidence.
A Release Candidate must provide all five proofs. Playtesting is mandatory evidence, but Clowdr does not prescribe one universal tester count.
- Proof 01
Promise Proof
The complete game delivers the approved Player Promise.
- Proof 02
Build Proof
The critical path works on every stated platform without unresolved Release Blockers.
- Proof 03
Craft Proof
The complete game meets or improves on the Quality Baseline without placeholders or Unowned Output.
- Proof 04
Ownership Proof
Contributions, provenance, rights, AI disclosures, attributions, and credits are accounted for.
- Proof 05
Publication Proof
The game and release materials can be presented accurately under the Clowdr brand.
Publication Review
Clowdr decides publication.
The Project Lead submits the Release Candidate and its evidence. Clowdr records one of three outcomes.
Outcome 01
Accepted
Clowdr publishes the game under the Clowdr brand, by default on itch.io.
Outcome 02
Revision Required
Clowdr identifies correctable blockers. The Project remains on the Clowdr publication path and can return with a new Release Candidate.
Outcome 03
Publication Declined
Clowdr makes the final decision not to publish the game under its brand. That decision alone grants no independent-release authority.
An Independent Release requires both Publication Declined and explicit written Independent Release Authorization plus a project-specific sublicense from Freistil ApS. Silence, delay, Revision Required, membership changes, or an incomplete review grant no such authority.
Public accountability
Every release shows how AI was used, or deliberately not used.
The Release Candidate turns planned intent into a Final AI Production Note: actual AI use or deliberate non-use, material human decisions, verification performed, provenance, rights, disclosures, attributions, and material changes from the pitch note. A concise version is published with every Clowdr Release.
Use the tools deliberately. Own the result. Prove the release.
How We Ship defines the standard. The Logbook shows where that standard holds, changes, or needs better evidence.